SIDE-BY-SIDE ANALYSIS · COUNTY LEVEL
Compare Childcare Costs
Compare official childcare costs and affordability side-by-side between any two U.S. counties. Data is sourced directly from the U.S. Department of Labor’s National Database of Childcare Prices.
Data: U.S. DOL NDCP · 2022 (latest official data)
County side-by-side comparison
ABOUT THIS COMPARISON
- Prices shown are median rates reported in the U.S. Department of Labor’s official 2022 National Database of Childcare Prices (NDCP).
- Differences are calculated between the two selected counties without rounding or extrapolation. If a county is missing price data for a specific age or care category, it is marked as “—” rather than fabricated.
- Annual and monthly figures are converted from the official weekly rate: annual = weekly × 52; monthly = weekly × 52 ÷ 12.
- Affordability is measured against the 7%-of-income benchmark — the cap federal CCDF rules placed on subsidized families' childcare co-payments from 2024 until it was rescinded on July 13, 2026. The 7% figure was always a cap on what states could charge subsidized families as a CCDF co-payment — not a federal finding that childcare is affordable at 7% of income for every family. The 2026 "Restoring Flexibility" final rule (91 FR 25796) removed that cap effective July 13, 2026; federal rules now require only that co-payments not be "a barrier to families receiving assistance". We still draw the 7% line as a familiar reference point, but it is not a current federal rule, and it never defined affordability for families paying full price.
- For detailed information on data collection, statistical imputation, and county definitions, read our full methodology.